PG&E to Spend up to $1.8 Billion
On Upgrading Gas, Electric Meters

By

Rebecca Smith

Updated July 20, 2006 3:51 p.m. ET

PG&E Corp. will spend up to $1.8 billion installing advanced electric and gas meters in Northern California, the biggest effort by any U.S. utility to use technology to reshape electric-consumption habits.

The project was approved Thursday by the California Public Utilities Commission, capping a week in which many parts of the nation set new records for electricity consumption and California officials worried that more needs to be...